Finding Stars in Marsannay, the Northern Village of the Côte d’Or

I love Burgundy (who doesn't), and I visited the region back in 2021, but I didn't really drink the wines frequently enough to become familiar with the various vineyards and producers because of the scary prices.

In October, I started my Wine Scholar Guild Master-Level Bourgogne course with the main purpose of getting to the bottom of the important questions:

(1) Which crus are the good ones?

(2) Who are the producers to know?

If I'm going to be spending all my dollars on fermented grape juice, I want to make sure it's going to be worth it.

I'm currently working my way through my review of the Côte de Nuits, and yesterday, when I stopped by Morrell Wine Company, a premier wine shop in New York City, to pick up my online orders, one of the gentlemen behind the counter leaned over to see what I bought, and he goes, "Oh, you got some good ones."

This course is evidently paying for itself in validation. 😆

Interesting facts about Marsannay:

(1) Marsannay is the most northern village of the Côte de Nuits and the only village appellation permitted to produce rosé (along with red and white wines) under its name.

(2) Bruno Clair comes from a historic Marsannay family. After phylloxera hit the region in the early 1900s, His grandfather, Joseph Clair of Domaine Clair-Däu, produced a rosé wine in 1919 that revived the local wine industry. Today, Marsannay is inextricably linked to Pinot Noir Rosé.

(3) Marsannay currently has no grand crus or premier crus but Les Longeroies vineyard (which is apparently quite long in size) is one of the stand-out lieux-dits of Marsannay with premier cru potential. If you're buying Marsannay, you want to look out for this site.

Stay tuned for more random Burgundy facts while I work through my studies!